Kieffaber still rolling along at 74

His love of the game is obvious, especially since one considers that he was the person responsible for building Spare Time Lanes in Millersburg in 1961.

And while he has had many memorable games and series in his career, Kieffaber recently proved he's still adding to his resume.

Competing in the Ohio State Seniors tournament at Park Lanes in Mansfield, Kieffaber won the Class A title while bowling against 420 other entrants.

The Class A title was for bowlers over the age of 70 and was held over four consecutive weekends. That meant the 74-year-old Kieffaber -- "I'm an old guy," he laughed -- rolled his six-game series and then waited for the results to come in.

Finally, he got the phone call.

"Last Wednesday they called me for my social security number for the 1099," he laughed. "That's how I found out. When they asked me that, I knew I'd won at least $600."

But, what he also found out was that he had won the tournament, as well as an all-expense paid trip to Reno, Nev., this May to participate in the national seniors tournament.

"When you're 75, you're not sure you're going to make it, but I expect to go," Kieffaber said of his upcoming birthday present.

Kieffaber has made a concession to his age by bowling just once a week now at Spare Time Lanes, but he still carries a 180 average.

On that weekend at Park Lanes, he turned the clock back by piling up a 1,331 actual score over six games, which improved to 1,493 with his handicap.

Ultimately, that was good for a 21-pin victory.

"I've been going to this tournament for 10-12 years now, but this was my best finish," said Kieffaber. "I've finished in the money, but not up that far.

"I got off to a good start and I locked in like I haven't in a long time," he added. "My six games were all over 200. I had a 653 in my first series actual, then my last three were a 678 actual. I had a high game of 246 -- maybe."

Kieffaber graduated from Dalton High School and has lived in Ohio ever since returning from active service in the Korean War. He began bowling when he was 20 and bought a lanes in Wellington in 1959. He sold that business, "came down here and built one in Millersburg," Kieffaber said. He sold Spare Time Lanes in 1975 to go into contract work with the U.S. Post Office. He kept that job until 1993 before he retired, although he's still available for "emergency" duty.

Come May, though, any emergencies will have to wait until he's back from building on even more memories in Reno.